What the 18th century U.S. schoolboy beheld was a tiaraed bogeyman,
whose heart appeared to mask Malice, Murder and Treachery. The
caricature went undisputed. In the Protestant schools of the time,
Roman Catholics were barred from teaching jobs. As Irish and German
immigrants swelled the U.S. Catholic population, their bishops (in
1884) announced an urgent edict. Every parish priest must organize a
parochial school; Catholic parents must send their children to such
schools whenever possible.

The ticklish consequences are analyzed by the Rev. Neil G. McCluskey,
education...